Storybook Accident

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

An SUV ran into Porter Square Books this morning, a little before noon. I did not see the collision, but I was there shortly after. Nobody I spoke to saw it happen, including a couple who were in the store -- they just heard the noise. The vehicle went through the window into the cafe area and at least one person from inside was taken away in an ambulance, in addition to the driver, who did not appear to be hurt. (Amazingly, the car did not appear to have sustained any damage, despite breaking through the metal & glass windows as well as the cement block wall beneath.)

There were four ambulances, three fire engines, and many police officers.



(Taken with my phone.)

Comments

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

If he was looking for the farmer's market, that's in Davis Sq. on Wednesdays.

/window seat, please

[cemeterygates.livejournal.com]

Wow, let's hear it for blogger eye witness reporting! Cam phone?

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Exactly. It doesn't take the best pictures, but it's nice to have around.

[julishka.livejournal.com]

i was at the gym when that happened. apparently the driver was trying to park in one of the wheelchair spaces in front of the store. she thought she hit the break. this as relayed to me by some older couple in cvs. said the woman was in shock. also that there were about 5 people injured total.

i did see them take one person away in an ambulance - not sure if any more went.

and, to state the obvious, the parkinglot, already packed w/saturday shopping x a million due to the storm was nuts today. the accident made it even crazier!

[girlsnqueers.livejournal.com]

So the steering wheel was locked too? If what the women in CVS said about the driver was true, she has no business being behind the wheel of any car, let alone a vehicle as potentially destructive as an SUV.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

"Pedal misapplication" is the cause of a whole lot of accidents involving older drivers. There was one like that in 1999 or 2000 at the Stop & Shop in Wellington Circle in Medford. 80-ish year old lady ran her car into the storefront. Killed some poor guy who had just gotten married six months previous. :-(

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

The car didn't have handicapped plates, but I didn't look hard enough to see if it had a tag in front.

(Mass plates "JOANDY".)

[ron_newman]

Just a few days ago, a car plowed into a historic Harvard house on JFK Street in Cambridge.

[julishka.livejournal.com]

yeah, that's it. joandy. i knew it was jo-something.

also the handicapped card might not have been visible yet if she was just parking - coulda been in the glove compartment or out of sight.

[julishka.livejournal.com]

that's not necessarily so. i know when i've been driving my car for a while, and then drive an automatic, my feet sometimes search for the extra pedal. also i've had my foot slip off the break before and hit the gas...not in any sort of way that damaged anything, but it did startle me! (and i'm not old, fyi.)

however, while i'm leaning in your direction, i'm also not trying to make excuses for the woman, so we can't discount her as being completely incompetent until the full story comes out.

i still can't fathom how someone parking could get enough momentum to break through the window - unless the suv was just tall enough to hit the glass first, before the little wall. (and also easily go over the curb.)

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

So, the previous poster seemed to say that the driver was a bearded guy. Anyone have any ideas?

[rmd.livejournal.com]

i used to have problems moving between standard and automatic transmissions -- i once nearly put myself thru the windshield when i tried to step on the clutch, except the first pedal on the left was the brake since it was an automatic...

if the driver did hit the gas instead of the brake, the startle/shock panic reaction might've prevented evasive action.

i'm hoping that nobody's seriously hurt. i can't find info on the accident on any of the local news sites.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know. I didn't think about it at all at the time, I'm just remembering in hindsight that the plates weren't HC. We specifically noticed the plates because they were vanity, prompting the wondering of whether it was Joanne or Andy driving, and whether the other was gonna be pissed.

[girlsnqueers.livejournal.com]

If you are talking about my post in the previous entry about the accident, the bearded guy came out of the store, not the vehicle.

[julishka.livejournal.com]

i didn't notice any news crews in the area. it's possible they don't/didn't even know about it.

[dancingdeer.livejournal.com]

Oh! We thought you meant that he came out of the vehicle. Thanks for the clarification.
Hope everyone's okay.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

Wow.

I would have been in that mall if it hadn't been for my boyfriend wanting to go to Stop n' Shop instead...

I walk through Porter Square all the time. I have seen some incredibly stupid things pulled by people who think they can handle an SUV. This is the best so far...

I think they should be outlawed. Wasteful, unnecessary, and dangerous as hell.

[ron_newman]

I'm also surprised it hasn't shown up on any news sites. I put a link to this LiveJournal post on Universal Hub.

[julishka.livejournal.com]

i see now from the flickr pictures posted in response to what you linked, that 1) because it's a wheelchair accessible spot, there is little to no curb, and 2) the "wall" below the plate glass window was barely a foot tall. so essentially this was a full on plate glass wall window and a car, and most definitely an SUV, at any speedwould no doubt go through that window very easily.

the bookstore might want to consider making a waist-high wall in the repairs. you know, just to be safe!

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I'm most concerned about the store. I know nothing about insurance for this sort of thing, though I've never heard of "car through the front window" insurance. Then there's the potential liability over any customers who were injured. Even the matter of getting it boarded up before the storm tonight.

Shit.

I love that store. And if feels like there's nothing anyone can do to help.

[prosicated.livejournal.com]

I was just by there, and they've got glass repair people out framing up a timber replacement and the truck had glass in it. They've got a few hours till the snow hits, at any rate. Even better, though, the store even had customers in it! (I was worried about them, too, I love that place.)

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

They're open for business? They ROCK. That's truly rolling with the punches.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure the driver's insurance will be paying for the damages to the store and any people involved. Really shitty timing with the storm coming, though. :(

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Sure is. And I thought I was having a bad day...

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

This is truly a shame. How old was the driver?

[spoothbrush.livejournal.com]

If I understand how it works right, the driver's insurance will pay up to however much property damage liability she's carrying. The store can go after her in court for any damages in excess of her PDL coverage, however. (My husband works for a car insurance company and talks about this stuff waaaaay too much. Some of it apparently rubs off.)

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

That icon is cracking me up....:-)

[four-thorns.livejournal.com]

ugh. an SUV went through the front of whole foods in framingham a couple years ago, and the falling plate glass severed the legs of some poor woman who was by the window. i really hope everyone is ok.

[amethystmoon.livejournal.com]

I used to live at a crappy intersection (in Fitchburg), and the storefront across the street from me was run into three times. The store's insurance covered what was above the driver's insurance (minus a premium, of course), but they do have limits -- after the third time, they said they'd be cancelling the insurance if it happened again.

Not just an SUV

[vagabondella.livejournal.com]

Its hard to tell from the photo, but this wasn't just an SUV as in a 4-runner or little Jeep. It was a full-blown Suburban or some such nonsense.

To tell the truth, I'm a little disappointed that the driver walked away unscratched. That's always how it is - selfish SUV drivers hurt innocent bystanders and then get their insurance to pay out - all that without so much as breaking a nail.

Here's a video

[dskippy.livejournal.com]

My girlfriend and I are video bloggers. We got to Porter probably a half hour after the truck when through the store. We too a short video (http://headsoff.blogspot.com/2006/02/driving-in-book-store.html#links) if anyone wants to see the accident from a few different angles. Thanks for the coverage.

-mike

SUVs are awful

[twe.livejournal.com]

Today's terrible SUV story:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/02/14/child_killed_by_car_on_way_to_school/

How terrible...